It is common in high-frequency amplifiers to provide some means by which transient response may be varied in order to adjust the circuit for optimum performance. Typically, transient response adjustments (also known as high-frequency compensation or signal peaking) are made by varying the values of reactive passive elements, such as capacitors or inductors in the signal path.
In other instances, recognizing that damping the factor (k) is associated with the quality factor (Q) of a resonant circuit and is thus related to the transient response, the damping factor may be adjusted by varying resistances as well as capacitances and inductances to provide a critically damped case wherein a step voltage rises to its final steady-state value without overshoot (underdamped case) or dribble-up (overdamped case).
In integrated circuits, implementation of transient response control is difficult because reactive components (or the tools used to adjust them) often introduce parasitic reactances into the circuit which compromise performance. Also, sensitive circuit nodes which need adjusting are often inaccessible, requiring additional off-chip compensation circuitry.